The role of Remembrance of the First World War in the construction of the discourse of national identity in Northern Ireland.

This work explores the way in which the texts and practices of Remembrance of the First World War in Northern Ireland can be seen as not only constructing discourses about the past but also discourses of identity, including national identity, in the present. It will examine how Remembrance is used to shape such identities and how an understanding of this can be, and is being, used to tackle the transformation of conflict in the region.
In the process it will ask questions about the production of meaning and the role of power in such production. This will lead to an exploration of the range of actors engaged with Remembrance and how they use it to achieve their aims.
It will explain the way in which such ‘memory work’ has been used in the construction of discourses of the nation on the island of Ireland and how this contributed to discourses of division amongst its population.
It will conclude by attempting to summarise the functions of Remembrance and its role in the construction and shaping of the nation and national identity.
The research focuses on the ‘Republican’ Falls Road, ‘Loyalist’ Shankill Road, the Cenotaph in Belfast, and the Island of Ireland Peace Park in Belgium. One of the main methods of research has been the production and analysis of photographs and many of these are used throughout this presentation to enable the reader to both better understand and also join in with the sense-making that such a project inevitably entails.